


The Ballad of Hallie Shea

by Joan of Arendelle (shopgirl3599)



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: F/M, second person story, series 3 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-04-09 17:17:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4357667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopgirl3599/pseuds/Joan%20of%20Arendelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As you look around your apartment, wondering if this can possibly be your life, a plan begins to hatch in your mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ballad of Hallie Shea

**Author's Note:**

> The Newsroom belongs to Aaron Sorkin.
> 
> This was an idea that occurred to me while listening to the episode "Run", and I decided to share it with the rest of the world.

Part 1 - The Plan Is Formed

As you sit in your apartment, you think back on the day you just had and wonder if this can possibly be your life now.

The idea seemed such a good one at first - after the election ended, you found yourself in need of a new job. When Jim had suggested ACN, you initially had reservations, but - even with the caveat about how the senior staff viewed "new media" (and your boyfriend's somewhat condescending opinion of it) - it was one of the best job offers you had had. And getting to work with Jim again would definitely be a perk.

You reach over and pick up the glass next to your chair, and take a long, slow drink of wine. 

The first few weeks at ACN had been interesting, even fun. Working with Neal Sampat was an education - his advocacy for new media was inspiring, and you found yourself being equally inspired. 

But then - then someone had blown up Boston, and the problems with your job were thrown in to sharp relief as you had to watch impotently as tweet after tweet, post after post and blog entry after blog entry said that The Boston Marathon had turned bad, and all you could do was sit there and watch them scroll by unreported because of the contempt and disdain your bosses - and your boyfriend - have for the entire digital revolution. 

You take another gulp of wine, and as you swallow, you realise - or rather, you finally admit - that you have a problem.

ACN is not the place for you. You've known it for some time, but the last week has thrown made it all too clear - for all the good work Neal has done, Charlie, Will, Mac and Jim are never going to elevate ACN Digital to the level it deserves, and you will always be considered a second class citizen in the newsroom.

You need to leave - to get out before the job kills your spirit and destroys your soul. But Jim suggested you for the job, and sold it on the benefits of working together. And now you fear that - if you tell him you want to leave ACN - he will interpret that in his adorable, but slightly dumb, way as that you want to walk away from him. 

And even though he is slightly condescending about new media and the digital world that you find so exciting, he is still one of your better boyfriends and you don't want to lose him from your life. 

You reach for your glass again, and find it empty. You look over at the bottle, then decide that perhaps bed might be wiser.

You get to your feet, and in an almost subconscious move, you walk over to your laptop to check the latest stories on the news sites and scan the important twitter feeds. 

Scrolling through them, you realise the official ACN Twitter hasn't been updated in a while. And - just like that - a plan starts to form.

You can't walk away from Jim - for all his faults, he is a sweetheart and you don't want to lose him.

And if you walk away from ACN Digital willingly, it will look to most people - including your boyfriend - that you are walking away from him as well.

But what if it looked like you were walking away unwillingly? What if you performed an action so egregious that Charlie Skinner had no choice but to dismiss you from the staff.

You look down at the Twitter feed again, your mind suddenly racing. Your mind is already forming the one hundred and forty characters that would get you fired - the options are almost limitless - but you have to make it look like it was an accident. No - not an accident, just an incident of bad judgement. Charlie, Will and Jim - especially Jim - must think that you acted on impulse and that, while you understand why you have to leave the company, you genuinely regret what you did. 

You stretch your hands out to the keyboard, and start to type.

Part 2 - The Flaw In The Plan.

Damn it! 

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

You slam your fist down on the bar, making the ice-cubes rattle in the glass beside you. The bartender looks up, then goes back to cleaning the glass in her hand.

You look back down at the phone in your hand, then close your eyes, trying to calm the annoyance rising within you again.

The first part of your plan went perfectly. The tweet you left up for exactly twenty seven minutes was found, and the right wing press took ACN to town. Less than an hour later, Charlie Skinner had sent you packing from ACN and you were out on the street. 

But then you saw the press statement from ACN. Charlie had - as he had promised - kept your name out of the story, blaming a mid-level, but unnamed, employee.

You look down at your phone again, only to shake your head as another dozen tweets fill up the screen. ACN - in the form of Charlie, Will and Neal - is getting slaughtered by the right wing press and Fox News in particular.

You put down your phone, then you pick it up again. Your plan - your simple, easy plan - is coming apart at the seems. You have left ACN, you have managed to keep your relationship with Jim, but now your actions are having consequences. Charlie. Will. Mac. Three people you have come to respect, even come to admire. Their lack of foresight in relation to the media revolution notwithstanding, they are true journalists - people with ethics and integrity, and now you desire to have the best of both worlds is destroying them.

Knowing what you have to do, you open your Twitter app, and start to type.

Part 3 - Happily Ever After?

You stroll out of the building, feeling on top of the world. 

The furore over the tweet had - mostly - died down. Taking the blame yourself had deflected most of the wrath from Charlie and Will, and while the political right was still intent on seeing ACN burn to the ground, they had moved on to other topics for the time being.

And now you have a new job. At a company that embraces the digital revolution - that wants to be a part of new media - rather than running away from it. 

You turn and walk down the street, eager to get home to Jim and tell him the good news.


End file.
